Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Through the Heart

I finished this small oil painting that I'm calling, "Through the Heart". It's another small wood panel painting, (4x6"). I've been in a poker frame of mind lately..My brother is a professional Poker player and was recently in The World Series of Poker tournament in Vegas this past July. He (O.K. a glimpse of the back of his head) was on ESPN Tuesday evening, he was playing poker at Ray Romano's table (from "Everybody Loves Raymond"). He's a phenomenal gamer and extremely competitive..perfectly wired to be great at Poker. I would lose my shirt...What am I saying...I chose to be an artist and lose my shirt at the easel instead. I don't think my brother or I would have it any other way.

I was told early on that if you want to be an artist, be prepared to have the life and blood sucked clean out of your heart and soul. ("Oh my God, relax dude, I just want to paint some cool pictures")...As dramatic as it is, there is probably some truth in this statement for anything that you put your heart and soul into. I swear my brother has a few more gray hairs in his head upon returning from the World Series of Poker. Some days you get the Bear..and some days the bear gets you.

This painting is about the days when the bear gets you. I got an email from someone asking if there were visual religious references here..(A spike through the heart...stains that maybe suggest the shroud or Turin or dripping blood) hmmm, no, I don't think I'm that deep..honestly. I really do just want to paint some cool pictures. I liked the aged surface of the wood and the worn playing card. Weathered and tattered textures appeal to my interest in objects that suggest ambiguous narratives. Great fun to paint.